Protective cover for shoes



Oct 25, 1938. c. MILLER 2,134,196

PROTECTIVE COVER FOR SHOES Filed March 9, 1956 Fla 5' INVENTOR to the backing Patented Oct. 25, 1938 Charles Miller, "don Miller deceased Long Island City, N. Y.; Ida Gorexecutrix of said Charles Miller,

Application March 9, 1936, Serial No. 67,817

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to'the shoe art, and more particularly, to protective covers for shoes.

In connection with the sale of shoes in retail stores'a serious problem, which has existed for a great many years and has remained unsolved, is how to prevent shoes and particularly'thebottoms thereof from becoming soiled and shopworn due to the repeated trying on of such shoes by customers. Recognizing the existence of this problem the provision of a covering for the shoe bottoms suggests itself as a solution of the problem, but since, as a practical matter, it is necessary to remove the cover from the shoe in order to permit a prospective purchaser to thoroughly examine the shoe, it is apparent that the cover must be readily removable. It is also necessary that the covers be readily and conveniently re;- placeable for otherwise salesmen, through carelessness or because of the lack of time when busy with a number of customers, would not replace the covers. The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a cover which can be readily removed 1 and replaced a large number of times with very little effort on the part of the salesman and in an exceedingly short time.

In accordance with the present invention, and as a solution of the problems referred to above, I have conceived of the idea of utilizing a cover sheet coated with an adhesive which is tacky under normal atmospheric conditions and which can be adhesively applied a substantial number of times to the shoe bottoms in such manner that the cover sheet is firmly retained against displacement in its own plane on the surface of the shoe bottom, but can be readily withdrawn from such surface by a stripping force applied at an angle thereto; An indispensable characteristic of the adhesive on the cover sheet is that it should not remain attached to the surface of the shoe bottom when the cover sheet is stripped therefrom, but should remain at all times fixed of the cover sheet. Anotherimportant and indispensable characteristic of the adhesive is that it should not stain, soil, mar or otherwise in any manner change the appearance of the finished and polished surface of the shoe bottoms to which the cover sheet is applied. The adhesive sheet material, having these characteristics, is known as Scotch tape and is readily available on the market. The cover members of the present invention are made of that material.

It is obvious that protective covers for the purpose of the present invention must be inexpensive and the manufacture thereof must accordingly-involve recognized economical manufacturingoper'ations. More specifically, in order to produce the cover sheets on a practical cost basis, itiis necessary to be able to cut thecovers to the necessary shape from the adhesive sheet material of which the covers are made by means of a die. Furthermore, it is essential because of the necessity forkeepi'ng the cost of the covers as low as possible, to die-cut from the sheet a plurality of such covers at a single operation of the die. To accomplish this, it' is necessary to superpose a number of sheetson each other so that the die can cut through several of the sheets at the same time. However, owing to the fact that the adhesive coating of the sheets is tacky under normal atmospheric conditions, the die in cutting through the sheets causesthe latter to stick together and it is exceedingly difficult, if not substantially impossible, to separate the covers from each other in the several layers, of the sheet. Another object of the'invention, therefore, is to provide a method of die-cutting a plurality of covers at one time from a plurality of layers of adhesive sheet material.

The above objects of the invention and other objects ancillary thereto will best be understood from the following descriptiom'reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of the present, specification.

In' the drawing: Fig. 1 is a perspective View position with protective co invention applied to the shoe of a shoe in inverted ers of the present bottom;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the cover for the for- 3 ward part or tread-surface portion of the sole of the shoe showing the adhesive surface of the cover uppermost; 9 h

Fig. 3 is 'a plan view of the protective cover for the bottom of the heel, the adhesive surface of said covering being uppermost;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of a strip of adhesive m'aterial of which the covers for the present invention may be made, showing one step in the method of'making said covers;

Fig: 5 is a sectional view on the line5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a plan View of a strip of adhesive material showing dotted outlines of a plurality of covers indicating the die-cutting thereof from the adhesive coated sheet.

Lil

tom surface of the heel of the shoe. The cover ID conforms substantially in size and shape to the underlying portion of the shoe sole, and more specifically as here shown, said cover extends lengthwise from the toe of the shoe to a point located at the shank of the shoe a short distance beyond the ball line. The cover I2 covers the bottom surface of the heel. Thus, said covers overlie substantially the entire treadsurfaces of the shoe bottoms and prevent the latter from being soiled when the shoe is tried on,

by a prospective purchaser.

The cover In comprises a flexible backing it of paper or other suitable sheet material hav-. ing an adhesive coated surface l6. One end portion of the cover member ID, that is the rear edge portion positioned at the shank of the shoe when the cover member is applied, is shaped to form a tab l8 'by which said cover member may be readily grasped for stripping the cover member from the surface of the shoe bottom. For this purpose a small covering and reinforcing piece 20 of any suitable material, such as manila wrapping paper, is applied at said end portion of the cover sheet on the adhesive surface thereof. The adhesive on said surface of the sheet is normally adequate to secure said piece-of paper 20, but other adhesive which dries or sets under normal atmospheric conditions may be utilized. It willbe understood that only one surface of the backing sheet i4 is adhesive-coated.

As previously indicated, the adhesive with which said backing is coated is tacky under normal atmospheric conditions and that the adhesive coated sheet may readily be removed from and replaced on the shoe bottom a substantial number of times. The cover sheets may be .opaque or transparent. The cover sheet, when applied to the shoe bottom, is firmly retained against displacement in its own plane, but can be readily and instantly withdrawn from the surface of the shoe bottom by a stripping force applied at an angle to said surface. In other words, to re,- move the protective cover from the shoe bottom it is merely necessary to grasp the tab l8 between the fingers and strip the cover member off the shoe bottom. The cover member l2 may be similarly readily applied to and removed from the bottom surface of the heel.

Referring now to Figs. 4 to 6, the method of manufacturing the cover members of the present invention will be explained. In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of the cover members are cut by means of a die at one time, from a plurality of superposed adhesive coated sheets 30. To prevent the sheets from sticking together when subjected to the action of the cutting die, narrow strips 32 of suitable material, such as manila paper, are adhesively fixed to the longitudinal marginal edge portions of said sheets on the adhesive coated surface 34 thereof. The adhesive sheet of material 30 from which the cover members II] are out are preferably ten inches in width and are about six feet long, being cut into such lengths from a roll of the material. The strips 32 for preventing the sheets from sticking together areabout one-half inch wide. A plurality of the sheets superposed one upon the other with their longitudinal edges in alignment are then subjected to the action of the cutting-die in such manner that one end of the die overlaps and engages the protective strips 32 so as to cut therethrough. On this account, a portion of said protective strip 32 remains united with the adhesive coated surface I6 and the cover 12 and affords means for readily separating the covers from each other and also provides the cover tab 20 previously mentioned. In lieu of the strips 32 marginal edge portions of the sheets 30 may be kept from sticking by applying to such edge portions a coating of chalk. In Fig. 5 I have indicated for the purpose of illustration, only two superposed sheets 30, but in actual practice I have superposed ten sheets, each six feet long; then these superposed sheets were folded in half providing a sheet three feet long and twenty layers thick. Thus, when the folded sheet is subjected to the action of the cuttingdie, twenty covers are produced at the same.

time. It will be understood also that more than one die may be utilized at the same time thus enabling the production of a large numberof the covers at a single operation of the die .or die press. The cover members l2 may similarly be cut from a plurality of superposed sheets of the adhesive coated material.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that certain changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of parts may be made without departingfrom the present, invention. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the precise construction and method here-, I

in shown and described, except as may be required by the appended claim considered with A protective cover for shoe bottoms, said cover comprising a flexible sheet 'member shaped toreference to the prior art. What I claim as new and useful is:

conform to the tread-surface portion of theshoe sole substantially coextensive with said surface and extending between the edges thereof from the toe of the shoe to a point at the shank of the shoe rearwardlyof the ball line, said member comprising a backing sheet of suitable flex ible materialcoated; with an adhesive which is tacky under normal atmospheric conditions, said adhesive coated sheet being adherable a substantial number of times to said surface in such manner as to be firmly retained on said surface against displacement in its own plane but to be readily withdrawn from such surface by a stripping force applied at an angle to said surface, one end portion of said sheet being substantially narrower than the body portion thereof wherebyto facilitatethe separation of said end portion from said surface preliminary to the withdrawal of said member, said member having a. laminated rear edge portion forming a;

pull tab to facilitate grasping of said sheet for stripping said cover from the shoe bottom.

' CHAR 

